Answering questions about how to improve the professional environment of philosophy

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This blog considers how to make the climate in philosophy departments and other professional spaces more hospitable. For more information, visit the “About” and “FAQ” pages; to submit a question, visit the “Ask a Question” page (see tabs above). Recent questions appear below. Click on the title to read further. There is a “Categories” menu below…

Climate issues in philosophy have been in the news recently. You might be asking: “What can I do to help?” Any movement needs people who are committed to the cause and have the capacity or resources to contribute. The more help and support behind a cause, the more can be accomplished. Here are some things…

The British Philosophical Association and Society for Women in Philosophy (UK) have initiated a Good Practice Scheme. Follow the link to find excellent resources for improving and maintaining equity in philosophy departments, learned societies and journals. Institutions can use the resources to develop plans for action and publicly commit themselves to implementing the plans. I…

It is difficult to give feedback to someone whose behavior is not contributing to a good climate. How can one do it effectively? How can one avoid blow-back? Here is a tip sheet that may be helpful, and also suggestions for how to respond when you are the one getting the feedback. Comments and…

The Eastern APA Convention is just over two weeks away. Many have experienced the climate of the convention as less than welcoming. What can we do to change this? Attention to microaggressions and microaffirmations can make a difference. What are microaggressions? Derald Sue, et al. (2007) describe racial microaggressions in a now classic paper: Racial…

I am a graduate student in a department that recently weathered an accusation of racism against the department and our department chair in specific. In light of this accusation, the department faculty followed the due process as required by our university’s diversity offices, which resulted in finding no wrongdoing. In response to this, the graduate…

There is a graduate student (I’ll call this person X) in my department who repeatedly makes comments which I (and at least several other students who I have talked to) take to be sexist and racist. They are not statements about hating any particular group of people, or anything obvious like that; they are more…

Here is part of a comment by Ori Simchen from a discussion on the Leiter Reports blog: “In philosophy we seem far more willing to tolerate the arrogant male undergrad or graduate student speaking with great confidence about he-knows-not-what. This just isn’t so in linguistics or psychology, which probably helps explain the migration of highly…